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Encyclopedia - Body Lice

Lice infestation was the
norm in the trenches - it is estimated that up to 97% of officers and men
who worked and lived in the trenches were afflicted with lice. It was
decidedly a trench phenomenon. Men who returned home on leave were not
likewise affected and the end of the war in November 1918 brought an end to
the problem of infestation.

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Fortunately for the lice
population, if not for their hosts, conditions of trench warfare proved
ideal for their rapid spread. Of the three types of lice - head, pubic
and body - the latter was far and away the most common. Lice could
only thrive in warm conditions - which was provided by body heat and
clothing.

In spreading from person to
person lice required close proximity of a new potential host - and this was
readily provided as men huddled together to preserve a degree of warmth.

Also commonly referred to
as 'chats', Lice often spread disease, the unique so-called
Trench Fever.
Lice who had sucked the blood of one infected person quickly succeeded in
spreading the infection to each successive host. Trench Fever,
although not usually life-threatening, was often highly debilitating and
resulted in a trench casualty rate of up to 15%.

Men would gather in groups
to de-louse themselves (i.e. 'to chat'). One favoured method of
eradicating lice was to quickly run a lit candle along the seams of
clothing, where lice would typically converge.

Although this - and
occasional immersion of clothes in a solution of Naphthalene - would bring
temporary relief the problem soon re-asserted itself as lice eggs which
remained undetected in clothing would hatch within a matter of hours;
frenzied scratching did not help. Lice - pale fawn in colour - would
produce blotchy red marks across the body and leave behind a faintly sour
smell.

Lice reproduced with
remarkable speed. Each female could produce as many as a dozen fresh
eggs per day, which would hatch within a month (and often within half half
that time). The fact that men would only be offered a full bath two or
three times per month merely exacerbated the issue.

The lice problem was never
determinedly tackled by the military authorities given that its connection
with Trench Fever was not recognised until the final year of the war.

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Saturday, 22 August, 2009Michael Duffy

"Devil Dogs" was the nickname given to the U.S. Marines by the German Army.